Warpriest vs Cleric

[Alphasez]

Looking for any obvious reason to build a warpriest over a cleric. Is there anything worthwhile a warpriest can do, that a cleric cant with feats, extra spell selection to make up for it? Even in regards to roleplay, a cleric with certain domains can fit the bill, right?

[Florian]

Looking for any obvious reason to build a warpriest over a cleric. Is there anything worthwhile a warpriest can do, that a cleric cant with feats, extra spell selection to make up for it? Even in regards to roleplay, a cleric with certain domains can fit the bill, right?

A Warpriest is a true gish, meaning that class has superior economy of actions. That also extends to the right Blessings, as you can quick them with just one feat.

Yes, a cleric has a better spell selection and its single class features sale better, but the Warpriest brings them to bear right now, this very moment.

[Psyren]

Warpriest has superior action economy due to Fervor, allowing them to self-buff/self-heal and full-attack more easily than a cleric can.

But cleric is still the more powerful of the two (obviously), so if that is your only concern then cleric wins.

[Spore]

Let me just quote our battle cleric. "When I am buffed up, the battle is over."

[Captain Morgan]

The Battle Cleric gets superior spell progression. It can cast Divine Power at level 7 where the Warpriest has to wait until 10. This makes the cleric the superior choice by far for any spell that isn't a self buff.

However, if you want to smash faces, you can't underestimate the action economy of the Warpriest. Warpriest also gets bonus feats and can qualify as a fighter for them, and can get greater milage out of esoteric weapon choices thanks to Sacred Weapon. Being able to apply weapon and armor buffs on the fly can also be pretty handy. If the Cleric doesn't have the right spell prepared when combat begins he's out of luck, where the Warpriest has some added flexibilit if he needs resist energy or axiomatic.

Also, the Oracle of Battle is a really solid choice.

[Secret Wizard]

Not to mention Warpriest has options to get more skills without losing any effectiveness.

[Captain Morgan]

You also should consider your party composition. Getting access to Blessing of Fervor as early as possible (Cleric) will be crucial if don't have someone casting Haste already and/or a lot of other martials. If you are in a mostly caster party and can secure Haste through other channels, the Warpriest will make the superior tank.

You should also consider lengths of combat. The WP gets stronger every round of combat. By round 5, they probably have 5 different buffs and have attacked 5 times. The Cleric has had 1 buff and has attacked 4 times, usually. If you usually see combat last 3 rounds or less, this is less relevant-- though there is still something to be said for the WP being able to buff even once and jump straight into the fray.

To bypass this problem with a Cleric, you can use Combat Reflexes, a reach weapon, and other reach increasers. Turn 1 you buff and move into ideal position, and hope to score some AoOs. Of course this gets MAD and feat intensive, which means the WP can probably do this better...

[Spore]

It's really more a case of comparing infight vs. out-of-fight time. If you spend most time fighting, Warpriest is more effective, if not, then Cleric can contribute more. Also healing, removing ailments, dealing with enemy casters.

[Itsjustsoup.com]

Do you want to rumble or Rule

Warpriest=Rumble
Swift action buffs
Fighter Feats
Free Fighter weapon proficiency
Buff weapons and armor to do Fire,acid,frost,etc

He's like a Broken Holy Magus

Cleric=Rule
Channel Negative=Let the bodies hit the floor
Buffs and Spells = Dominate

Get bored, self buff and wade it.